Boca Raton Woman Pays It Forward, Donates Kidney
Shaneeva Yassin, Web Journalist & Producer
CBSMiami.com
MIAMI (CBS4) - A Boca Raton woman is showing her gratitude by donating her kidney to a stranger at a Miami hospital Thursday.
Rhonnie Leder will donate her kidney to Les Loffman of New York on Thursday at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Loffman said he has been waiting for a new kidney for one year
"You wait and you keep yourself fit and emotionally ready for the call that a good kidney has come in," Loffman said.
Leder said donating her kidney was meant to be.
"There's a term called Beshert," she said. "It's meant to be… and this was meant to be."
Leder's donation is a way of paying it forward after her husband Sam received a kidney from a stranger in 2007. She said they were lucky to find one after a lot of searching. She said she's ready to return the favor.
"It gives me the opportunity to give someone else's husband what someone was able to give my husband," she said.
Leder said she heard of Les' plight through mutual acquaintances.
"She said, 'Oh if we could only find a kidney for my friend Les… and I said, 'what type of blood does Les have? She said, 'A positive, I said, 'We may have found him a kidney.'"
University of Miami transplant surgeon Dr. Gaetano Ciancio will perform the transplant. He said it's a miracle when someone such as Loffman finds a matching donor like Leder.
"That's unique," he said. "It doesn't happen every day. Believe me."
He said it couldn't be a better story.
"Without the gift, you're going to die," Ciancio said. "And then, out of compassion and love, somebody wants to donate. It cannot get better than this."
Loffman said he's overwhelmed and grateful for Leder's act of kindness.
"Rohnnie is my hero… my savior actually," he said.
He said he can't wait to cut the cord from the dialysis machine and get back to life as it used to be.
"I'll have her kidney in me, but the rest of her will be in my heart for the rest of my life," Loffman said.
Over 900 people are waiting for kidney transplants in South Florida, and roughly 20% will find matches, CBS4's Evan Bacon reported.
The message from those in the story is to donate. For more information on donating, visit http://www.donatelifeflorida.org/
For more information on the Miami Transplant Institute, visit http://miamitransplant.com/
